Technicolor Hands

“What’s with your hands? You look like you just dyed about a hundred Easter eggs with bulletproof dye.”

“Yeah, it’s a mess, huh? I was cleaning a few fountain pens and changing some ink. ”

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Ever have this experience? Ever felt like a five year-old with a set of paints when mother is out of the room? It’s happened to me a lot, and for a long time I was scrubbing my hands raw trying to get all the ink off.

Browsing the Classic Fountain Pens website one day, I saw something that looked like just the stuff I needed. On the website it is listed under Accessories as hand cleaner, something called InkNix. I ordered a couple of bottles and discovered it does what it says it will, though you shouldn’t expect the ink on your hands to wash off as easily as chocolate sauce or strawberry jam. It takes a bit of rubbing, and helps to follow the directions on the bottle.

Without wetting the hands, rub a small amount of InkNix on the stained areas of your hands; you should see the ink dissolving after a half minute or more. Add a little bit of water and continue rubbing. (I usually use a nail brush at this point.) When you rinse your hands you may still see some reluctant ink stains, but those usually come off when you dry your hands. I have never tried InkNix on clothing stained with ink, and the directions suggest that if you do, to try it first on an inconspicuous area to see if it affects the color of the fabric.

One bottle of InkNix is $16.00 from Classic Fountain Pens; two bottles $26.00 and three $37.00.
It works for me, and after a good cleaning with InkNix I feel like I could pour tea for the Queen Mother without any nasty looks. The second photo shown here is one of the Classic Fountain Pen ink blotters, something that is enclosed with orders from them.